Peaceful. Tranquil. Serene. Laid back. Reverent. Up and coming. Laos is all of these things and above all else, unexpected. We traveled to Laos without knowing a whole ton about it other than it was beautiful and chill – it certainly delivered. After doing a bunch of research we decided to focus our time in Laos in the city of Luang Prabang and the area around it. While getting there from Vietnam was pretty easy, we had some serious bumps in the road.
While traveling can be incredible- filled with amazing experiences and memories you’ll cherish for a lifetime- it also comes with some pretty big lows too (which help put things a bit in perspective). On our way to Laos, we had several of these happen to us all at once. To make sure you dear readers get the full story, we’ll share with you the unvarnished misadventures. First I lost one of my favorite travel accessories on the way to the airport and then in a completely freak accident on the plane, I had the toenail almost completely torn off (if you want to know the full, painfully gross backstory, buy me a drink when you see me next). I had to get patched up in mid-flight and spent the next few days doing my best Keyser Sose impression as I limped around Laos.
Not to be outdone, Tiffany came down with the WORST food poisoning she’s ever experienced and she was sick for 3 days straight.
Tiffany: Ya…..about that food poisoning. Since we are doing slow traveling we have been extremely selective on which hotels to splurge on and we decided to choose a 4 star resort in Laos. It was the biggest travel mistake that I made so far on this trip. Avoid Santi Resort & Spa at all cost. I got the worst case of food poisoning at the hotel restaurant. This was a 3 star hotel pretending to be a 4 star resort; do not waste your money here.
Tim: Ya. Fun times. Not so much. And So began our Laos trip- with Tiffany confined to our hotel room like a modern day Rapunzel and me with my messed up toe limping everywhere. I know, the perfect picture of travel bliss! But this is what travel is like sometimes and we wanted to ensure you dear reader get the whole picture of how this extended travel thing really is.
When we did finally get to explore the city of Luang Prabang, we found a wonderful little town with lots of charm. When people talked about this Unesco Heritage town, they did not joke about the amount of gorgeous temples (Wats). Each one has their own magical Buddhas and bejeweled depictions of important scenes. Each Wat isn’t very big but the amount of detail packed into every inch is amazing.
The town of Luang Prabang has one main street – Sisavangvong Road- that is dotted with all sorts of colorful French colonial buildings, each with their own little charm. On this main drag you’ll find one of the longest night markets ever where local artisans hawk everything from beautiful hand carved wood figures to ornate journals to the ever-in-southeast-Asia elephant print harem pants (y’know, part of the standard tourist Tiluminati uniform). One part of the market we really loved is affectionately called “buffet street” where you can find any kind of grilled product imaginable. Sausages, chicken, beef, fish, tofu- all in skewered form. You literally point at what you want and they grill it up for you.
One of the biggest draws for Luang Prabang beyond the many Wat’s is the Kuang Si falls. These are roughly 45 mins by tuk tuk or scooter outside of the city and are absolutely worth the visit as they’re not just your everyday “water going over a ledge” situation. The falls are split into upper and lower portions -both stunning in their own ways. The lower falls are terraced where the turquoise water cascades in all directions. Not only that but you can actually swim and bathe in the falls! There were countless amounts of selfies and instagrams being made of this while we were there. Unfortunately for me I wasn’t able to swim because of my toe but it looked pretty awesome from my view! The upper falls are closed off to swimming but make up for it in the incredible cascades of water you see falling from hundreds of feet above. Its worth the hike up here to check everything out. As you walk out of the park you can also see a preserve where rescued moon bears live. Moon bears are native to Laos and look like…well..bears with longer snouts. They’re unfortunately sought after for their bile which apparently is used in Chinese medicine and the whole backstory of these playful creatures is kind of heartbreaking, but it is great to see places like this taking care of them.
Tiffany: This was truly a magical waterfall. One of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen in my life. I was immediately captured by its natural beauty. I was inspired to meditate right next to the waterfall and it was one of the most unique and special meditations sessions of this trip. It was truly grounding and wonderful. I will never forget how beautiful it is and how wonderful I felt in this moment.
One of our favorite aspects of Laos was some of the characters we met. For example we met Keo who runs an incredible cultural center called Heun Chan Heritage House in the heart of Luang Prabang. We spent an afternoon with her as she showed us a traditional house, taught us how to make Laotian Dream Catchers and then gave us the most heartfelt cooking class we’ve ever taken. We’ve taken a TON of cooking classes all over the world and this one felt to us to be the most intimate and personal we’ve seen. It was clear Keo loves her culture and food and truly wanted to share it with us. We made several dishes by hand that we’ve never seen before including tasty savory grilled rice cakes, a delicious eggplant dip, a spicy chicken salad, soup and ground pork brochettes. We even made this gorgeous purple sweet and sticky rice desert. It was hands down the best food we ate in Laos- and we helped make it ourselves!
Tiffany: I’m so grateful to Thanh for connecting us with Keo. She told me it was one of the most memorable cooking classes she’s ever taken and she was right. Keo was a true gem and overall a really kind passionate person. I had to reschedule our class due to my serve case of food poisoning but Keo was super flexible and understanding and even offer to bring me soup and medication to my hotel. When we arrived at her cooking school she was excited to inform me that she customize the menu for to accommodate my needs. Learning to cook with Keo and her team was a true joy and definitely an unforgettable experience. We had the best meal in Laos here learning how to cook with Keo. She was so passionate about her food and you can truly feel the care and love into her cooking.
Tim: A place we found ourselves coming back to again and again was Elizabeth’s Icon Klub– hands down the best drinks we had in Laos. Elizabeth left her native Hungary and and loved Luang Prabang so much, she felt it silly to live anywhere else and here she made her very quirky, very awesome bar. Festooned with all sorts of Dada-esque art and an incredibly friendly clientele it’s easy to strike up a conversation and make new friends from all over the world.
I spent the final day renting a bike and visiting the countryside and its picturesque wats. Coming from Vietnam, its really striking to see how laid back Laos is. As the sun crept down the horizon, we clambered up the hill called Mount Phousi that sits in the middle of Luang Prabang to get a chance to watch the sunset. It was glorious but apparently we weren’t the only ones as throngs of tourists all clambered to get that one perfect instagram worthy sunset pic to prove they were there. It was admittedly a pretty funny scene and one we were totally complicit in 😉
And just like that, our time in Laos was done and off we were to Thailand and the wonders of Chiang Mai!
Key Places to Check Out in Luang Prabang
- Here’s our handy Google Map of our favorite places
- Bouang is great for a solid, modern take on Laos dishes
- Icon Klub is awesome for drinks
- Utopia club is awesome for daytime yoga and perfect for a sunset drink
- Definitely take a coking class at Heun Chan Heritage House